Lighting for 8gallon bio cube? MH?
 

hey guys picked up a 8 gallon looking to run with no canopy and running a metal halide lamp.... what watts would i be looking at for this.

75W or 150W at the absolute max.

I wouldn't go any higher than 70 -75 watts. I say this because I haven't seen anything less than 75W in a MH system. Something like one of the 70W Viper MH systems would work. I have 150W MH (w/ 2x65W actinics) over a 20 gallon and its overkill; my light is about 6" from the water and could probably go up another 2" to 4". You can play with the height of the light above the water to make the intensity a little more manageable if you find it too high. The Vipers (or most HOB MH systems for that matter) are really adjustable so that wouldn't be an issue. Don't go overboard with the wattage in such a small tank otherwise you'll end up with heat issues.

Just my 2 cents...

yah i was thinking the viper clamp on seeing if someone has a used one for trade or sale. other than that pretty much just height and thats easy to fool around with like you said.